


Old scars, new scars

by Kjam



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, First Meetings, Hurt/Comfort, Insecure Sandor, Love at First Sight, Romance, Romantic Soulmates, Sandor Clegane Needs a Hug, Sandor is twentyfour, Scars, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, sansa is eighteen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-19 00:55:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29618118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kjam/pseuds/Kjam
Summary: Having a soulmate is a rare occurrence, when it happens your scars start appearing on your soulmate, and theirs on you. In the South, they are viewed as gifted by the Seven, but in the North, soulmates are thought to be cursed, and they are often killed. Sansa is hidden away in Winterfell by her parents, and Sandor is too afraid of meating his soulmate, knowing how horribly he scarred them. What happens when he travels to Winterfell as Joffrey's guard?
Relationships: Sandor Clegane/Sansa Stark
Comments: 14
Kudos: 107





	Old scars, new scars

**Author's Note:**

> I needed more Sansan soulmate au, so I wrote one. Hope you enjoyed it, please comment if you did!

  
They say the ones with soulmates are touched by the Seven upon birth. Their skin will show every scar their intended gets, and in return, their scars show up on their soulmate’s skin. A rare gift, one that must be honored. The gifted must do everything to find their mate, to honor the bond because that’s the only way they will be truly happy.

They whisper about it. A curse, from the Old Gods, scars that mar their bodies, marking them as carriers of bad luck. If they ever find their other half they bring destruction to anyone and anything near them, so it’s better to get rid of them, as soon as the scars start to appear.

When Lord Stark’s eldest daughter is born the midwife screams upon seeing her face and almost drops the baby. The screaming has Lord Stark barging into the room, carefully taking the baby from her. His face drops when he sees the reason for the screaming: the baby’s face is marred with burn marks, and there are scars in other places, too.  
“She is cursed, a bad omen.”  
Catherine cries when she sees her, but still, holds the baby close to her chest. Lord Stark lifts the midwife from the ground and growls.  
“No one can know about this, do you hear me, woman? No one.”  
They raise the girl in secret hidden within Winterfell's tall walls. Only the most trusted servants are allowed to contact her, and they have to swear on their life not to reveal her secret. Lord and Lady Stark are dread themselves every day that some religious lunatic will find out about Sansa and try to kill her, as such an act isn’t uncommon in the North. So they hid her, kept her a secret, and she grew and got prettier, even with the scars all across her body. She loved to hear the Southern tales about soulmates, lovers destined to meet one day and she tried to believe that version of the story over the scars being a horrible curse.  
Sandor knows his soulmate hates him. Who wouldn’t? He gave them a life with the ugliest fucking scars possible. So he tries not to think about it too often. It’s not hard, most of the time. He is busy enough hiding from Father or Gregor, and later on fighting and killing, and when he gained a name doing that, protecting that little blonde fucker. But from time to time he is still reminded of her existence, by a scraped knee, or pinpricks on his hand. She must live a very sheltered life, for she is rarely injured. He gets enough scars for the both of them, and with every new one, he is reminded just how much she must despise him.

Sandor hates the cold, the long rides, and the snow, but he hates the fire most, lit at night to keep them warm. He sleeps as far away from it as possible, even if that means shivering all night long. They are traveling to Winterfell, for whatever reason and he had to come along to look after Joffrey, make sure he doesn’t do anything too stupid or too cruel. That’s his job, so he does it without a word, even if he hates it.

They arrive at Winterfell with big splendor, with banners and flags, in their best clothes and with clean curried horses all lined up. Lord Stark is awaiting them in the court, his children all lined up and when they ride in, a murmur spreads between them, which is quickly ended by one firm look by their father. Sandor has the odd feeling that they are all staring at him, even Lord Stark, which is, of course, stupid. They must be looking at Joffrey, who rides beside him. Lord Stark turns his gaze away soon, greeting the king. Sandor isn’t even listening to the courtesies, all he wants to do is unsaddle Stranger, find a bowl of hot food and have a decent sleep.

He isn’t even finished with unsaddling his horse when a small girl turns up at the barns, looking for him. She is wearing boys' clothes, but Sandor still recognizes her as Lord Stark’s daughter. She stands in front of him, staring at him.  
“You are the Hound, aren’t you?”  
“Aye, girl. What do you want?”  
“You should go to the Godswoods. It’s that way.”  
“And why the fuck should I go there?”  
“There is someone I think you should see.”  
Fuck. Did the little blonde cunt get into trouble again? He quickens his steps and hurries to the wood. It was full of old, majestic trees that for some reason creep him out. There is a giant white tree with red leaves in the middle of it, and a young girl is kneeling in front of the tree. No, not a young girl, but a woman, although still young, he notices, as he gets closer. Her hair is as red as the leaves on the tree, and her pure beauty stuns the tough Hound. She stands up and bows her head, still not noticing Sandor. Then she turns around, and he can see the other side of her face. Everything stops.

Scars cover the right side of her face, and the burn marks he always found so disgusting on himself don’t take away from her beauty. They just stare at each other for a long moment, and Sandor waits for her to scream at him, blame him for her misfortune, or simply run away, but instead, she smiles at him and extends her hand.  
“You came for me.”


End file.
